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Why aren't you in Beta?

We all have different reason for not participating in Beta. What is yours?

Don't want spoilers?

Feel you don't have time to provide good feedback?

Feel like you won't be listened to?

Don't have a code because you have chosen not to get one of the free codes that Turbine has given away on Facebook (the last campaign lasted for over 48 hours, so everyone had a chance to get one), and have chosen not to ask in Global or in a large kinship like other players have done to get a code?

Don't want to ruin the storyline/content for myself before it goes live.

GlorgnorborHappyHalloween!

Glorgnorbor,A Rock And A Hard Place,Stop by our Friday music shows! 4PM EST at the Bree West Gate on Dwarrowdelf!If a Malledhrim Soldier dies alone in the forest because of canceled quest, will it make a sound? ~Leixy
Took me a few years, but I renewed my signature :)

Not on Facebook, and unwilling to create a dummy account just to get a beta key.

And I have no idea what you're talking about with codes coming from glff or large kinships. That doesn't happen on any of my servers.

Especially when you have to share your friends list, email, name, picture, etc with a company you know nothing about and could easily steal your ID.

GlorgnorborHappyHalloween!

Glorgnorbor,A Rock And A Hard Place,Stop by our Friday music shows! 4PM EST at the Bree West Gate on Dwarrowdelf!If a Malledhrim Soldier dies alone in the forest because of canceled quest, will it make a sound? ~Leixy
Took me a few years, but I renewed my signature :)

same here. I believe there shouldn't be any secrets and they should have disclosed this expansion 3 weeks ago! I don't like surprises, not since I was 12 or so. What I'd like to see is the truth of whats coming, not some spin on how I should feel about it.

Mean what you say and say what you mean! If you don't there are always consequences!

same here. I believe there shouldn't be any secrets and they should have disclosed this expansion 3 weeks ago! I don't like surprises, not since I was 12 or so. What I'd like to see is the truth of whats coming, not some spin on how I should feel about it.

Well, having testing of a product in development occur under NDA is actually due to a much more serious reason than a penchant for keeping secrets. It's because testers see the product in a very unfinished state in order to actually contribute testing.

Since people tend not to listen very much to notices like "all details subject to change" when they get info, creating talk about bugged content, unfinished textures and dead-end questlines will create a lot more negative word-of-mouth than is actually warranted, as most of these are fixed before launch. This has been the case with all prior LOTRO expansions, and I can't actually imagine a beta testing of any software that doesn't follow that pattern. The NDA is in such cases are meant to keep the discussion to actually informed people until such time as it's fit to actually show to the public.

For the actual topic of the thread: I avoid betas since I want to see the new content in the right context, and I'm not sure I'd actually be a very good tester since my playtime is already limited.

Worried I won't have enough time to get enough Bounder Tokens before the 18th to get things I want

Club Éclair-Second Servings members are at 35 trainings or below.
I can't fit all my Tortoise Stone Bearers in my sig anymore.My deepest thanks to Hologro for tending the coop for our 8th Annual Month a' the Chicken on Landy last year.

Well, having testing of a product in development occur under NDA is actually due to a much more serious reason than a penchant for keeping secrets. It's because testers see the product in a very unfinished state in order to actually contribute testing.

Since people tend not to listen very much to notices like "all details subject to change" when they get info, creating talk about bugged content, unfinished textures and dead-end questlines will create a lot more negative word-of-mouth than is actually warranted, as most of these are fixed before launch. This has been the case with all prior LOTRO expansions, and I can't actually imagine a beta testing of any software that doesn't follow that pattern. The NDA is in such cases are meant to keep the discussion to actually informed people until such time as it's fit to actually show to the public.

For the actual topic of the thread: I avoid betas since I want to see the new content in the right context, and I'm not sure I'd actually be a very good tester since my playtime is already limited.

This is not a real beta test. This is all about marketing and revenue. They are getting paid by some Facebook company. Players give the facebook company their personal info, it gets sold to other companies, and Turbine gets a fee.

The whole point of a beta is that it's feature complete. All that is left is tweaking. The programmers likely have reams of bugs to fix from the real, internal beta they ran before this phony one.

Video card is dead, all I can do now is play on an old laptop. I probably could get the beta to run, but my heart is not into it.

Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, totally worn out & proclaiming "WOW, what a ride!"Continuing the never ending battle to keep Lobelia Sackville-Baggins in check

This is not a real beta test. This is all about marketing and revenue. They are getting paid by some Facebook company. Players give the facebook company their personal info, it gets sold to other companies, and Turbine gets a fee.

The whole point of a beta is that it's feature complete. All that is left is tweaking. The programmers likely have reams of bugs to fix from the real, internal beta they ran before this phony one.

I can't say much about the Facebook thing, though I doubt Turbine gets a kickback from that.

From my experience in every closed beta from MoM to RoR and none of them were phony betas. All of them have had issues being addressed during the beta. MoM a bit less than the later ones.

The whole point of a beta is that it's feature complete. All that is left is tweaking. The programmers likely have reams of bugs to fix from the real, internal beta they ran before this phony one.

Ideally that would be true, but based on the Rohan beta I can assure you that it wasn't even close to feature complete when it started (not by my definition at least). Key NPCs missing, quests not completable, endgame (Hytbold) only implemented after half of beta was over already. Mounted combat was there, but barely playable (not talking about lags here).
And this time they not only have new content, but also a total class rework, a changed threat concept and a new instance system. I don't want to imagine how much of that actually worked at the start of this beta.

I haven't participated in a beta for over 2 years now. Basically, I can't put in the time to make it useful, and don't really want to know everything about the story and gameplay before it arrives.

The NDA isn't a problem - I've participated in dozens of NDA testing programs over the past 20 years, and generally see them as useful (whether I'm asking someone else to sign an NDA for my own product, or whether I'm signing one for someone else's). Developing in a fishbowl is just isn't a great idea, IMO.

Especially when you have to share your friends list, email, name, picture, etc with a company you know nothing about and could easily steal your ID.

This.

I was going to snag a beta code from the recent promotion, until I found out it involves some 3rd party FB app. I have an FB account and "liked" Lotro long ago, but I do not give access to my FB info to any apps.

Apparently you do have a problem with the NDA because you just violated it?

But he is replying to a thread asking why isn't he in Beta. He may have just never used the code and is explaining why not.

Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, totally worn out & proclaiming "WOW, what a ride!"Continuing the never ending battle to keep Lobelia Sackville-Baggins in check

But he is replying to a thread asking why isn't he in Beta. He may have just never used the code and is explaining why not.

I *suppose* that to say one has received a Beta invitation but didn't use it, while it comes near to
the NDA line, doesn't cross it. What it comes down to is saying "I'm not in Beta" when that is a true
statement.

It is not disclosing any information about Beta. Indeed, it is stating that the poster has no information
to disclose.

For me, if I am not in a Beta test it is most likely that I just don't have the time. However, any time I've had the chance to participate in the beta testing for any game, the experience tends to be fun. Regardless of what "stage" the product is actually in, it is always fun interacting directly with the developers and helping them to get everything ready for the public.